Category: General

One more day of work (Friday). And a day I have to be at a clinic for a 7:00 meeting. I have a lot to do, and hopefully I can leave the office tomorrow on a high note. Today, it took me almost 2 hours to get home. Traffic was insane; I feel it will be the same tomorrow. (Let’s cross our fingers that the powers-that-be let us leave a little early).

What are my weekend/holiday plans? I’m on call for the hospital, and that’s 24/7. I will keep my phone with me at all times. I will be alone this year, which is fine. I’m getting some new furniture delivered Saturday, so I’m going to spend a lot of time building stuff, rearranging, cleaning, and organizing — all stuff I like to do, honestly. I’ve already organized journal articles (printed copies), so all I need to do for school-prep is research newer articles on microlearning and upload them into Zotero. (And tag them and make sure their details are accurate).

In a few, I’m going to order groceries from Amazon Fresh. I need to figure out what I want to make this weekend. I feel like trying something new…

Finally. Time for winter break. Old-school me refers to this as Christmas break, but let’s not offend anybody, eh?

This last term was busy. My leadership class was great, as the professor was extremely helpful and left many personal comments in all assignments. My research class? Just the opposite. Canned (pre-written) responses 100% of the time; zero in-paper critiques. Can’t grow much if professors don’t contribute. I was also a graduate assistant for a research class, and that was fun (and time consuming). Not only did I get to contribute to discussion forums, I got to try my hand at providing concept paper feedback along with the professor.

During break, I have a few school-related tasks I need to complete. First, I need to go through all of my printed journal articles (yes, I print them out) and file them appropriately so I can reference them quickly in the future. Second, I need to work on organizing my Zotero references for the concept paper class. That particular class is the “gateway” to candidacy, and candidacy is necessary if you want to proceed with your dissertation and completion of the program.

Recently, I suffer from a lack of motivation. Right now, in another window, I’m writing this week’s paper for my strategic planning class. Typically, I’m done with all assignments prior to the weekend. The weekend is my “Matt time” and my opportunity to relax and prepare for the upcoming modules.

Fall & winter are here, and having darkness start at 3:30 PM is unsettling. It makes me tired. And it makes me want to NOT work on assignments when I get home from a long day at work.

I need to figure out a way to stay focused. I need to complete assingment in a timely fasion (even though they aren’t due until Sunday at midnight). I need to have a better work-life-school balance. Augh (as Charlie Brown would say).

Previously, I had two external monitors attached to my laptop. One of those monitors, though, had a lower resolution than the other two. (One of these things is not like the other… One of these things just doesn’t below…).

To rectify that issue, I purchased another monitor and had planned to just dispose of the low-res one. I’m not sure what changed my mind, but I ended up getting a monitor stand and adapter (the low-res did not have a VESA mount, either). Now I have a four monitor set-up — one of those four being my laptop.

No, this is not a fashion blog. It’s not a photo gallery. It’s not collection of beautiful blogs discovered within the interwebs.

It’s my personal journey through the doctoral/dissertation/research process. I started my terminal degree program one year ago through American College of Education. They have an EdD in Educational Leadership; they are accredited. Do I need to be Dr. Matt for my job? No, not at all. (In fact, I love the job I currently have). This has been a personal goal since I started college way, way (way) back in 1990.

I missed documenting year one, and I will make more of an effort to document years two, three and, perhaps, four (depending on how long I take on the dissertation).

I will try to NOT be boring. (But I can’t promise). In addition to scholarly posts — I feel those are required given the overall focus — I will post about other journey-related things. Like movies I watch and books I read to “de-stress.” I will share resources I have discovered online that make the journey easier. I will self-reflect and share personal thoughts and opinions.

In three years? I can look back and (hopefully) see personal growth. And intellectual development.

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Music Recommendation

The French concept album is amazing, and great background music when I study.